Writer of the Month: September

There is nothing I love more about LD than getting to know my writers and seeing them bring a fresh voice to the site. As we continue to grow we get more contributors from all over the U.S., but about a month ago we received an inquiry from our first international writer—Amy. She joined us and within a day she had an article up, and another later in the week—each bringing something altogether new and absolutely delightful to the site.

In her first email to us (titled, “British postgrad looking for a cyber soapbox”) she proceeded to tell us how she was slightly unordinary in that she loved to lift weights—and not those little five-pounders. No, this girl pumps some serious iron, and then proceeds to talk about how tea is a way of life. To say the least we were sold, and simply had to invite her to join the LD crew.

Over the past month Amy has brought us some incredible articles and was the first to get the attention of The Huffington Post in her piece “The Lost Art of Ladylike” (certainly one of her best).

In her first piece, Amy writes about her difficult relationship with her body and how weight lifting (despite making her butt even bigger) has helped her tackle her depression, get in shape, and find a passion for something a little outside the ordinary. There’s nothing we love more than folks who don’t quite fit your typical cookie cutter mold, and this article is proof positive that Amy crushes it with her biceps of steel.

If you’re in or considering a long-distance relationship, you absolutely cannot miss this piece. Amy talks about her own transatlantic engagement and the highs and lows that come with it. It’s personal but entirely relatable to anyone who has ever been there before.

While chatting back and forth, Amy and I started talking about American and British stereotypes on both sides of the Pond, and this article fell out of it. Here she gives some absurdly useful tips to Americans traveling to the U.K. (spoiler: Your best British accent is still always terrible) and pokes fun at both the Brits for being socially awkward, and the Yanks for being overtly exuberant.

Sometimes college is a big old party, but oftentimes there are those situations when life takes an all-too realistic turn. Amy reflects on working full time and going to school full time, trying to find that balance, and struggling to keep your equilibrium when the world seems to be spinning off its track. This article is an absolute must-read for anyone whose college experience wasn’t quite what you had expected.

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Love Amy’s work too? Tweet her at @_amysara and us @litdarling to tell us your favorites!

Katie wrote multiple variations of her bio to no avail.The first painted her as a socially awkward political philosophy nerd who is more comfortable in nature, and likes critters more than people. The second spoke of her Southern big sister need to adopt everyone, feed them their feelings, and correct their manners. The third made her sound like a bitchy academic elitist who shops too much and has a dictator complex. All these things are true. In the end, Katie hails from Northern Virginia, hates polarizing politics, wishes she lived in England, and spends more time with her family and animals than anyone else. She can usually be found bossing someone (most likely her sister) around from behind her camera, or hosting overly complicated dinner parties. She writes for a living, is in graduate school for writing, and thought it would be a good idea to change things up, and start a website where she can, you know, write some more.